Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to lay regulations to bring section 68 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 into force.

We know that controlling or coercive behaviour does not stop at the point of separation. Indeed, it can persist and often increase as the perpetrator seeks to retain control over the victim. That’s why Section 68 of our landmark Domestic Abuse Act amended the definition of ‘personally connected’ which removed the ‘living together’ requirement for the controlling or coercive behaviour offence. This means the offence will apply to intimate partners, ex-partners or family members, regardless of whether the victim and perpetrator live together. In order for the new offence to be effectively implemented and to further support frontline agencies in identifying, investigating and evidencing domestic abuse offences, we are updating the Controlling or Coercive Behaviour Statutory Guidance which will be published later this year.

On 30^th April, we launched a public consultation on the updated draft guidance to garner wider views, with the opportunity for all interested stakeholders, including victims and users of support and prevention services, to respond. The consultation will run for eight weeks, closing on 25^th June. It is important we get this guidance right to best support victims of controlling or coercive behaviour. This wide-reaching public consultation will allow us to produce a robust and comprehensive document which reflects the needs of victims and ensures that professionals can recognise and respond to controlling or coercive behaviour appropriately.

We are making good progress implementing the Domestic Abuse Act and have already implemented important provisions including the offence of threatening to disclose intimate images; the offence of non-fatal strangulation; new duties for local authorities around the provision of accommodation-based support; and providing automatic eligibility for special measures (e.g. giving evidence from behind a screen) for victims in the family court. We are working at pace to implement the remaining provisions, including the extension of the controlling or coercive behaviour offence.

As the Government needs to update the Controlling or Coercive Behaviour Statutory Guidance and provide the police and courts with sufficient time to prepare for the implementation of the new offence, Section 68 of the Domestic Abuse Act will be implemented later in 2022. We hope to be able to provide clearer timeframes post-consultation and will keep stakeholders updated throughout this process.